Indefinite future for new species of iguana

Scientists have identified a new species of Pacific iguana and named it after the Fijian word for hello and goodbye. But is it hello or goodbye for this creature? The creature has survived for millions of years but is now threatened by feral cats and mongooses.

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MARK COLVIN: A team of Australian and American scientists has discovered a new species of Pacific iguana.

But there's a downside to their discovery. The creature is very rare and faces a grim future.

It lives in parts of Fiji where feral cats and mongooses are a threat.

Brendan Trembath reports.

BRENDAN TREMBATH: Anyone who's familiar with Fiji will have no trouble remembering the name of a new species of Pacific Iguana.

SCOTT KEOGH: We named it Bula Bula. The world Bula is a very common saying in Fiji and any tourist that goes to Fiji's heard it many times. It just simply means hello, it can also mean goodbye and it's just a happy greeting. And the word Bula Bula is just you know, a more enthusiastic version of that.

We thought that would be a nice name for the new iguana as a way of welcoming it to science but also welcoming it to Fiji as well.

BRENDAN TREMBATH: Scott Keogh is an associate professor at the Australian National University's School of Botany and Zoology.

He and scientists from Sydney's Macquarie University and the US Geological Survey in San Diego have revealed their find in an international biological sciences journal.

Scott Keogh says they did a careful study of reptiles commonly known as Fijian crested iguanas.

Some had a different anatomy and molecular make up and so a new species was identified.

While the discovery is a satisfying one, Scott Keogh and his colleagues have concerns for the welfare of the Bula Bula.

SCOTT KEOGH: Unfortunately on just about every island in Fiji, in fact this is a problem right across the Pacific and in many parts of the world, there's been cats and mongooses introduced and there's also goats on most islands in the Pacific. And the cats and mongooses are devastating for the iguanas 'cause they eat them.

And goats are a problem because they don't eat the iguanas but they eat the plants that the young iguanas feed on.

BRENDAN TREMBATH: Pacific iguanas have fascinated scientists for a long time because the Iguanas' closest relatives are found on the other side of the planet.

SCOTT KEOGH: Close relatives of the Fijian iguanas are only found in the Americas. So these things are related to animals like the famous Galapagos iguanas in the Galapagos region and the distance between where Fiji is now and the Americas is something like about 8,000 kilometres so it's been a real debate for a long time trying to figure out how exactly these animals could get there from so far away.

BRENDAN TREMBATH: Associate Professor Scott Keogh says one theory is the iguanas floated to Fiji on some sort of giant raft millions of years ago.

This was long before humans made a similar voyage.

SCOTT KEOGH: We were able to put a rough date on that from the molecular data and it's up to something like about 13 million years ago.

MARK COLVIN: Associate Professor Scott Keogh from the Australian National University with Brendan Trembath.